A policy shift at Conde Nast is the second of my three aspirational and fictional ideas that are (relatively) cheap, that would make concrete environmental gains, that could be accomplished almost instantaneously by motivated people in positions of power (by phone calls, in two cases), and that would immediately set an agenda for the next election.

In June, 2008, well in advance of the 2009 Vanity Fair “Green Issue,” a press statement from privately held Conde Nast Publications announces that the company will begin to apply a benchmark to the automotive advertising they accept. In order to remain consistent with articles in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, Conde Nast will adopt a voluntary standard of 25 mpg for vehicles advertised in their pages.

The 25 mpg standard, at a point where the effects of fuel inefficiency begin to be minimized, will allow car makers continued access to the affluent, trend-setting readers of Conde Nast magazines while encouraging the manufacturers to make aspirational, trend-setting luxury vehicles fuel-efficient.

And the new standard will preserve the magazines’ reputation for moving the cultural dialogue forward. (The press statement cites the voluntary omission of tobacco advertising, and notes this step may ward off other regulation on the horizon.)

Rumors also abound that Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Al Gore, Prince Charles, and Pope Benedict XVI signed a collective statement to Conde Nast that they would not participate in interviews or allow their images to be used in Vanity Fair until the 25 mpg standard was in place.

Pitt was apparently specifically concerned that the continued pumping by Vanity Fair of Cadillac Escalades onto American highways would doom his new building projects in New Orleans, as climate change prompts a repeat of Katrina. Bob Dylan didn’t get the memo. The Pope promises to call Dylan.

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